The invention relates to methods implemented on a computer system. More particularly, the invention relates to methods of managing workflow information in a workflow management computer system.
Businesses and individuals use conventional workflow management and contact management systems to manage workgroups and to track contacts and results with a particular group of individuals. For example, salespeople use contact management systems for tracking the names, addresses, contacts, progress and results with their customers. Individuals use contact management systems for tracking and maintaining information on their friends and acquaintances. Organizations use workflow management systems to manage and distribute the work performed by each individual in the organization.
Contact Management
One contact management system currently available under the trade name ACT! (Symantec Corp., California) provides a conventional contact management system which tracks contacts in a database structure. In use, a sales person keeps a database of potential customers within the ACT! contact database and, using the software, set alarms and flags for managing phone calls, letters and other communications with the potential customer.
Within ACT!, the sales person is presented with a screen displaying the name, address and other pertinent information about the customer to be contacted. The ACT! database can be sorted so that, once a salesperson has made contact with a customer, the next screen that is displayed includes the name and contact information for the next customer to be called. For example, the sales person could sort the contact database for all customers who had not been called within the last three months. A first screen is then displayed to the sales person of the first customer that had not been called within the last three months. Once the sales person has called this first customer, a next screen is displayed having the name and contact information for the next customer that had not been called in the previous three months. This process repeats until the sales person calls all of the customers that had not been contacted within the last three months. Virtually all conventional contact management systems function in a similar manner.
Unfortunately, conventional contact management systems suffer from several disadvantages. One disadvantage relates to the difficulty users have in categorizing their contacts. While conventional contact management systems provide several fields that can be used to sort the contacts into a particular order, it can be very difficult for a user to understand the overall structure of lists generated in this manner. This is due to the format of conventional contact management systems, wherein only lists of contacts are provided to the users. Thus, a need exists for a simple system for conveying to a user of a contact management system the types and number of contacts within particular categories of their system.
Included within the category of contact management systems are debt collection systems. Companies and debt collection businesses use these systems to contact debtors that owe money. Originally, collectors were charged with collecting from purchased, placed or randomly assigned debtor accounts. The collectors could organize hard copy files in a prescribed or selected manner, and would be relied upon for collecting from debtors in an appropriate sequence. Unfortunately, such manual systems failed to ensure that deadlines, such as those dictated by 34 CFR. 682.410(b), were met. Moreover, manual systems required heavy investments in time to organize and prioritize physical files, in addition to depending upon the judgment of individual collectors.
The advent of the computer enabled automation of file organization and prioritizing. Furthermore, automation presented the opportunity to eliminate the risk of improper prioritization. By incorporating a variety of account information in databases, accounts in prior systems could be sequenced according to selected criteria, and collection access to accounts restricted to that sequence, thus ensuring that the accounts are handled in the desired sequence.
For example, the COLLECTOR SYSTEM (Columbia Ultimate, Vancouver, Wash.) is a Microsoft Windows compatible software program that includes a series of windows for displaying information on debtors. The COLLECTOR SYSTEM includes a work-in-process list (WIP list), which displays the debtors"" accounts in the order they are to be contacted by the collector. A collection manager who oversees a pool of debt collectors normally sets the order that the debtors are to be contacted. Normally, a manager of this type of system chooses the list of debtors to be contacted by a particular collector. This chosen list of debtors is thereafter transmitted to the collector and the collector contacts the debtors in sequential order. Thus, the collector has very little control over which accounts are contacted at any particular time.
Unfortunately, this type of forced contact with debtors does not provide the flexibility that would be advantageous to a debt collector. The collections manager or automated collection system conventionally forces the order in which debtors are contacted upon the collector so that the manager can retain control over which accounts are being contacted.
In addition, there is no system in the prior art that easily conveys the overall status of all debtor accounts assigned to each collector. The collector may have no idea how many accounts are past due, under administrative wage garnishment, or require a follow up phone call. While many systems allow generation of reports listing specific information, no overall picture of the debtors accounts and the actions required on those accounts were provided.
Workflow Management
Similarly, in workflow management contexts, it is challenging for an organization to manage the flow of work between many different individuals. Moreover, the status of each project, product design and actual product manufacturing is often difficult to assess at a glance. Rather complex data compilation or report generation is typically required before such status is clear. For example, a semiconductor fabrication facility might have many people responsible for various stages of the manufacturing process.
Thus, a need exists for more flexible workflow management methods to allow the organization to move and schedule complicated projects between each individual that is part of a large project.
In satisfaction of the above-described needs, the present invention includes methods in a workflow management system that efficiently transfer work from one individual to another. In addition, managers are able to graphically determine who is responsible for a project at any stage of development. Desirably, the methods are configured to not only transfer work throughout individuals in an organization, but to also display status information derived from a database, and manipulate or update the database as work is performed.
In a workflow and contact management context, a single contact can be managed by several individuals. One individual may be responsible for calling the contact on the telephone after a particular due date has passed, whereas a different individual may be responsible for sending a letter to the contact after a due date has passed. Aspects of the methods include provisions for moving client records between different individuals in the organization in order to manage the work performed by these individuals. Thus, the methods have the ability to identify particular actions (such as sending a letter) that need to be performed, and thereafter assigning that task to the appropriate individual in the organization.
Accordingly, certain embodiments include a computerized method of managing contact information comprising storing in a computer memory a plurality of names of contacts and a category identifier that identifies one or more categories associated with the plurality of the names of contacts, outputting a graphical display to a display screen, said graphical display comprising a plurality of graphical shapes, wherein each graphical shape represents one of said categories associated with the plurality of the names of contacts, and wherein each category identifier corresponds to a graphical shape, receiving input from a user indicating which of said plurality of graphical shapes is selected by the user, and displaying a list of the plurality of the names of contacts associated with the selected graphical shape.
An additional aspect includes the method wherein the contact information is debt collection information. A further aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shape is selected by the user pressing a function key on a computer keyboard. Another aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shapes are rectangles. A still further aspect includes the method wherein a number of contacts within each category is displayed within its corresponding graphical shape.
The method further comprises storing in a second computer memory a rating for each contact. An additional aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shapes indicate the number of contacts within each category, and the rating for each contact. A further aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shapes indicate the number of contacts having each type of rating by associating a color with each possible rating, and wherein each graphical shape is colored in a proportion substantially equal to the proportion of each rating within the total number of contacts.
The method further comprises changing the association between contacts and categories in response to an event. An additional aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a key being pressed on a keyboard. A further aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a selection being made from a menu. As still further aspect includes the method wherein said event is automatically generated in response to a condition being satisfied. An additional aspect includes the method wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of: a date condition, a time condition, a flag set condition and a data entry found condition.
Certain embodiments include a computerized method of managing debt collection comprising storing in a first computer memory a plurality of names of debtors, a category identifier that identifies one or more categories associated with the plurality of the names of debtors, and a collectability ranking for each debtor, and outputting a graphical display to a display screen, said graphical display comprising a plurality of graphical shapes, wherein each graphical shape represents one of said categories associated with the plurality of the names of debtors, and wherein each category identifier corresponds to a graphical shape.
The method further comprises displaying on the display screen a list of debtors in each category. An additional aspect includes the method wherein the collectability ranking is selected from the group consisting of: Very Good, Average and Poor. The method further comprises storing data relating to a debt owed by the debtor in a second computer memory. A further aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shape is selected by pressing a function key on a computer keyboard. A still further aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shapes are rectangles. An additional aspect includes the method wherein the number of debtors within each category is displayed within the rectangles. Another aspect includes the method wherein the rectangles indicate the number of debtors that have each type of ranking.
An additional aspect includes the method wherein the rectangles indicate the number of debtors having each type of ranking by associating a shading with each possible ranking, and wherein each rectangle is shaded in a proportion equal to the proportion of each ranking within the total number of debtors. The method further comprises changing the association between debtors and categories in response to an event. A further aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a keyboard input. A still further aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a user making a selection from a menu. Another aspect includes the method wherein said event is automatically generated in response to a condition being satisfied. An additional aspect includes the method wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of: a date condition, a time condition, a flag set condition and a data entry found condition.
In addition, certain embodiments includes a computerized method of managing workflow information comprising outputting a graphical display to a display screen, the graphical display comprising a plurality of graphical shapes, wherein each graphical shape represents a plurality of tasks having a common status, determining when a user has selected a graphical shape and displays a list of the plurality of tasks associated with the graphical shape, and automatically changing the association of the plurality of tasks with the graphical shape in response to the generation of an event.
An additional aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a key being pressed on a keyboard. A further aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a menu choice being made. A still further aspect includes the method wherein said event is generated in response to a condition being satisfied. Another aspect includes the method wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of: a date condition, a time condition, a flag set condition and a data entry found condition.
Additionally, certain embodiments include a computerized method of managing debt collection comprising storing a plurality of names of debtors and a category identifier that identifies one or more categories associated with the plurality of the names of the debtors, and outputting a graphical display to a display screen, the graphical display comprising a menu system comprising menu choices that, when selected, associates the plurality of the names of the debtors with a category and updates at least one graphical shape in the graphical display representing the category.
An additional aspect includes the method wherein said menu system generates at least one event. A further aspect includes the method wherein the graphical display further comprises a plurality of graphical shapes, wherein each category identifier corresponds to a graphical shape. A still further aspect includes the method wherein said menu system further comprises instructions that generate an event in response to a menu choice. Another aspect includes the method wherein said event triggers scheduler instructions to perform a task. An additional aspect includes the method wherein said scheduler instructions result in the debtor being associated with a different category.
In addition, certain embodiments include a computerized method of assigning and tracking one or more tasks to a plurality of individuals or stages in an organization, the tasks corresponding to an account in a workflow management system comprising inputting the account having tasks associated with the account, assigning a first status to the account, assigning at least one task corresponding to the account to a first individual or stage in the organization, outputting a graphical display to a display screen, the graphical display comprising at least one graphical shape, wherein the at least one graphical shape indicates the assigning of the at least one task to the first individual or stage, assigning a second status to the account in response to an event, automatically assigning the at least one task to a second individual or stage in the organization, updating the at least one graphical shape on the graphical display to indicate the at least one task no longer being assigned to the first individual or stage, and outputting at least a second graphical shape to the graphical display, the second graphical shape indicating the assigning of the at least one task to the second individual or stage.
An additional aspect includes the method wherein the first and second status are collectability ratings. A further aspect includes the method wherein the graphical shapes are selected from the group consisting of: a rectangle, a bar graph, a pie chart or a line graph. A still further aspect includes the method wherein the workflow management system is a contact management system and the accounts are contacts. Another aspect includes the method wherein the workflow management system is a debt collection system and the accounts are debt collection accounts.
An additional aspect includes the method wherein the event is automatically generated in response to a condition being satisfied. A further aspect includes the method wherein the event is a debtor disputing a debt. A still further aspect includes the method wherein the event is a media received event. Another aspect includes the method wherein the event is a promise to play according to an agreed upon payment plan.